Generation of negative ions

ABSTRACT

Negative ions are generated by passing a stream of gas and water vapour free of water droplets through a corona discharge of 5,000 volts or more.

United States Patent [191 Topley [22] Filed:

[ 1 GENERATION OF NEGATIVE IONS [75] Inventor: Charles Wilfred Topley,London,

England [73] Assignee: Armstrong Cork Company,

Lancaster, Pa.

, June 22, 1972 [21 App1.No.:265,241

[52] US. Cl. 250/423, 317/4 [51] Int. Cl. HOlj 37/00 [58] Field ofSearch 250/495 GL, 423; 317/4 [451 Aug. 27, 1974,

Ronzi 317/4 Jahnke.....' 317/4 Primary ExaminerJames W. LawrenceAssistant ExaminerB. C. Anderson Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wolfe,Hubbard, Leydig, Voit & Osann, Ltd.

1571 ABSTRACT Negative ions are generated by passing a stream of gas andwater vapour free of water droplets through a corona discharge of 5,000volts or more.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Fig u res GENERATION OF NEGATIVE IONS This inventionrelates to the generation of negative ions, for example hydroxyl ions.

The generations of negative ions in air has long been a desirable end inorder to treat pulmonary and other respiratory conditions, for exampleemphysema. There have been attempts in the past to provide methods andapparatus for producing air having a high negative ion content, but allprevious types of apparatus have tended to be ineffective due-to therapid recombination of the negative ions produced after leaving thenegative ion production zone.

British Pat. Specifications Nos. 392,945, 414,687, 420,360 and 436,467disclose methods and apparatus for electrically treating moist air, butthe air stream produced by the apparatus in those cases, when operatedas set forth in the specifications does not contain negative ions instable form.

According to a first feature of the present invention there is provideda method of producing negative ions which comprises passing a stream ofgas and water vapour not containing any water droplets through a coronadischarge of voltage at least 5,000 volts.

According further tothe invention, there is provided an apparatus forthe production and. transport of negative ions which comprises means forproducing a stream of gas and water vapour not containing any waterdroplets, a corona discharge gap, and means for blowing the streamthrough the corona discharge gap and exhausting it to atmosphere.

By the use of this method, negative ions are generated which are notsubjected to rapid recombination in clean dry air. In polluted air, itis found that the generator clears the pollution, for example smells ormist. The stream of negative ion containing air so produced is valuablein medical therapeutics for the treatment of pulmonary and respiratoryconditions. Contrasted with previous apparatus, the present apparatusdoes not need to be directly in front of the mouth of the patient beingtreated the negative ion-containing stream of gas is stable andrecombination rates are comparatively low. The patient may accordinglybe several feet away from the apparatus and yet be benefitted thereby.In time the polarity of the room and contents in which the apparatus isoperated may be changed from positive to negative.

If desired, the stream of gas which is passed through the coronadischarge may contain components additional to air and water vapour, andby breathing the stream of air containing negative ions, thesecomponents may be introduced into the body. The components which may beused in this way vary widely, but include elemental materials such asalkali, alkaline earth and other metals, and other chemical compoundswhich may be absorbed from the atmosphere by the lungs.

Naturally, it is possible to vary the strength and intensity of thecorona discharge in order to vary the ionisation produced. The voltagemay be raised if desired to a value much above the 5,000 volt minimum,and this is of particular use in large ion generators such as might beused to condition a treatment room or even a complete hospital ward.

The invention is described, by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying drawings which show a negative ion generator according tothe invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the apparatus, and

FIG. 2 is a top view.

Referring to the drawing, the apparatus comprises a standard evaporator1 (such as that sold under the Trade Mark MOULINEX) which has beenmodified by the addition of extra evaporator wicks 2. These wicks maysuitably be made of filtration board, and their area must be sufficientto give adequate humidification. This evaporator contains a fan whichsucks in air from the atmosphere and slowly passes it over the wicks andexhausts it into a convergent channel 3. Connected to the narrower endof channel 3 is a treatment tunnel 4 in the centre of which is located apair of corona discharge electrodes, a lower spike negative electrode 5and an upper semi-cylindrical positive electrode 6. The lower electrodeis mounted on a suitable high voltage generator 7, e. g., any suitableapparatus capable of producing a spike voltage of 7,500 volts. Thecorona discharge current in apparatus of this type is preferably 20 to30 microamps.

The outlet end of tunnel 4 is connected to a discharge vent 8. In use,the evaporator l is filled with water, preferably distilled or deionisedwater, and the fan set in motion. The corona discharge isset up and itis found that after a brief period of settling down, measurable negativeion concentrations may be easily detected more than 20 feet away fromthe apparatus.

It it is desired to introduce negative ions other than OH into the exitstream of gases, then, for example, simple salts may be dissolved in thewater of the evaporator, e.g., calcium salts.

Theapparatus described above may be made ofany convenient material suchas metal, plastics or fibreglass, but the preferred material ofconstruction is wood.

It is preferableto use an evaporator of such efficiency that, under theconditions of use, the relative humidity of the gas stream passingthrough the apparatus is raised by at least 5 percent.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus for the production and transport of negative ions whichcomprises means for producing a stream of gas and water vapour notcontaining any water droplets, a corona discharge gap, and means .forblowing the stream through the corona discharge gap and exhausting it toatmosphere.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for producing a stream ofgas and water vapour includes a wick evaporator, said wick evaporatorproviding a large evaporative surface area from which the waterevaporates to provide water vapour free of water droplets.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for producing a coronadischarge gap provides a corona discharge of voltage of at least 5,000volts.

4. The apparatus of claim I wherein the means for producing a coronadischarge gap provides a corona amps.

- UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION- a entile.3,83Z;554Y-, 1 Dated g 974 Inventor(s) It is certified that errorappearsin the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

On the cever sheet delete "[73] Assignee: ArmstrongiCorF Company,Lancaster,;PIa."'.

Signed ahd siei aied"this llch'day of Jinuar 197$,

(SEAL) Attest: vC. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C. MASON j i Commissioner ofPatents Attesting Officer i and Trademarks FCQRM' PYO-OEE MOI-69) I k iQ USCOMM'DC maze-pee PatentNm 3 ,832,554 Dated August 27, 1974 CharlesWilfred Topley Inventor-(s) It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below: 7

On the cover sheet delete "[73] Assignee: Armstrong CoTP Company,Lancaster, P-a.".-

Signed and sealed this llth day of January 1975;

(SEAL) Attest:

' 5 a .C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C. MASON v Commissioner of PatentsAttesting Officer andTrademarks

1. Apparatus for the production and transport of negative ions whichcomprises means for producing a stream of gas and water vapour notcontaining any water droplets, a corona discharge gap, and means forblowing the stream through the corona discharge gap and exhausting it toatmosphere.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for producinga stream of gas and water vapour includes a wick evaporator, said wickevaporator providing a large evaporative surface area from which thewater evaporates to provide water vapour free of water droplets.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for producing a corona dischargegap provides a corona discharge of voltage of at least 5,000 volts. 4.The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for producing a coronadischarge gap provides a corona discharge of voltage of at least 6,000volts.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for producing acorona discharge gap provides a corona discharge current in the range offrom 20 to 30 microamps.